Ain't no Sunshine
by i8TheCookie
Summary: After running away to New York, with Brian's credit card, Justin goes missing. After two years he's presumed dead and the investigation closes. But Brian knows he's not dead, and is planning on doing everything he can to prove that he's not crazy.
1. Disappearance

Ain't no Sunshine

**Summary:** After running away to New York, with Brian's credit card, Justin goes missing. After two years he's presumed dead and the investigation closes. But Brian knows he's not dead, and is planning on doing everything he can to prove that he's not crazy.

**Warning**: Violence, language,

**A/N:** I actually have no idea what I'm doing or what's going on in this tiny little brain of mine...

* * *

"He's not here", Michael Novotny announced loudly, interrupting his friends screaming at the white door in front of them.

"So we'll just wait until the little fuckers gets back" said friend answered and sunk to the floor, back leaning against the door he previously had yelled at.

The friends' name was Brian Kinney. And Brian Kinney was not happy. Because the trick he had brought home and fucked a few weeks before, had somehow manage to take over his life completely and while at it, screw up royally. So now, here Brian was, standing outside a hotel room in New York, banging furiously on the door (and as I might have mention, yelled just as furiously at it) in order to get said trick to open the goddamn door so that he could drag his ass home, and have him payback every single cent he had charged on his credit card, that the trick so fabulously had stolen from him.

"You do realize that could take ages" Michael said, but still took a seat next to Brian, who by now had pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. With the cigarette hanging loosely between his lips, and his hands working the lighter, he said; "It can't take that long. What would he possibly be up to?"

"Anything!" Michael said stealing the now lit cigarette from Brian and put his lips around it. He took a deep breath and held it in before slowly exhaling the smoke and continued. "You remember what it was like being he's age don't you? We'd skip school and do nothing practically the whole day, and still not be home until late after midnight"

Brian nodded. "True, but we still had each other, that kid doesn't know a soul here does he?"

Michael shrugged. "Maybe that's what he's doing now" he smirked "Getting to know people"

Brian rolled his eyes but said nothing.

And that's how they sat, for one hour, two hours. Feeling his ass getting sore (which was a feeling he wasn't exactly unfamiliar with) and back stiff Brian stood up, stretching.

"Where the fuck is he?" he mumbled frustrated, glaring at the door like it was their fault Justin wasn't here.

"He'll show. He's got to sleep at some point, right?"

Brian nodded in agreement, but that didn't stop him from feeling even more frustrated. They could be here until 6 in the morning.

"Have you tried he's cell since we got here?" Michael asked, even though he knew Brian hadn't. And Brian shook his head, fishing up the phone from his back pocket and once again called him. Almost a minute later he removed the electronic object from his ear with and angry sigh. "Still no answer"

Michael was quiet, and as Brian let he's eyes fall to floor, where Michael was still seated he sigh. He knew that expression.

"What?" he asked annoyed

"Nothing" Michael mumbled, the _expression_ still painted over his face.

"Well then" Brian said, voice sounding half sarcastic, half annoyed. "Stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles"

"I was just thinking…"

"Well that's always a dangerous sign" Brian huffed, earning himself a glare from the sitting figure in front of him.

"Would you shut up, I'm serious!" Michael snapped. "I mean... What if something happened to him? Like he went out clubbing last night, but never came home…" He's voice was filled with worry and he was stuttering and breathing irregularly so Brian thought it was best to shut him up before he continued speaking.

"Listen Mikey" he interrupted before he could elaborate he's thoughts "Are you listening?"

Michael forced himself into silence before nodding "Yes, I'm listening" he mumbled.

"Justin's fine. He's probably just out, getting familiar with the area. And even if he did go out clubbing last night, and that's the reason he's not here yet, it's only because he met some hot fuck and followed him back to his place, okay? Trust me, he can take care himself"

Michael nodded. "Yeah okay… If you say so" and they left it at that.

* * *

Debbie Novotny was pouring a cup of coffee to a regular costumer when she heard the door to the diner slam shut. As a pure reflex she glanced over her shoulder to see who had just entered. It was her four boys.

About fucking time.

"Where the fuck have you been?" she screeched when she was done pouring and walking towards them.

"You were the one who sent us away, remember?" Brian said annoyed, rubbing his eyes with two fingers.

"And I wouldn't have had to do it if you knew how to keep your dick in your pants for three seconds!" Debbie snapped hands placed firmly on her waist. "Now, where's Sunshine, he's mom is out of her mind with worry"

Suddenly all four pair of eyes dropped to the floor, and all four boys were suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable. Debbie who had been chewing gum violently suddenly slowed down at the sight of their expression. Even Brian who most of the time had an "I honestly don't give a fuck"-attitude about pretty much everything, looked troubled. Something had made him give a fuck. This made Debbie nervous.

"What?" she asked, not sure she wanted to know.

Michael was the first on to raise his head. He seemed to struggle with his words for some time before he finally managed to form a sentence.

"Uhm…Justin…Justin's not with us"

"Did you already drop him off at his home?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face and a strong voice. She knew deep in her heart, that was hardly the case here.

"No, Ma…" Michael sighed, went quite, hung his head, took a deep breath, looked up again, and said; "We never found him…"

* * *

Two years later Justin Taylor was presumed dead and his case was closed. Two months after that a funeral was held, with no body. Instead, his parents and friends had each put in thing Justin once had own or something they assumed he'd like. Of course everyone was there, except for Brian Kinney. And while half of the people who knew him thought he was being a heartless bastard, the other half that knew him understood him and why he wasn't there. Brian never said anything, but they all knew it was because it was too painful for him. Even if he never showed it intentionally they could all tell how much he had cared for that kid.

What they didn't know though, was that they were completely wrong on that spot. Brian didn't go because it was too painful, but because he just couldn't believe that Justin was dead. Some people would call it denial, but with no body in the coffin or anywhere else, assuming that Justin was dead just seemed like such utter and complete bullshit to Brian.

No, Justin was alive; he could feel it all the way in to his bones. And Brian was going to do everything in his power to find him.

* * *

omfg, what am I doing...ugh...My first QAFfanfiction, leave a thought if you wanna, the first chapter is finished so it'll be up soon! loads of love!


	2. Drawings

_Can I just say that I love all of you who took the time to leave a review! Warmed my heart, so thank you all for the kind words and suggestions! Hope you like this!_

* * *

**Chapter 1: 3 years later**

The hand that was gripping his upper arm tightly, let go abruptly as the young man was pushed into a small room. He fell to the floor, supporting his body on his two hands and knees. He was gasping for air and coughing violently. In the background he could hear the sound of the door slamming shut and being locked. When he finally managed to catch his breath he took a look around in the dungeon-like room. The floor was cold and wet beneath his hands and knees, the walls were gray with ripped wallpaper. The air was humid and in the corner of the room stood an old bed, mattress slightly ripped and a thin blanket lying on top of it, unfolded. There was a small window, right across from the door that was barred from the outside, so it was no point in breaking it.

The young man shuttered. Whether it was from the cold or the fright he was experiencing he couldn't tell. The young man wasn't looking too good himself. He was thin, dressed in a black oversized shirt and dark brown sweatpants. His dark, curly hair was to the point where it reached to his shoulders. His face and neck was bruised and his feet were bare.

"They're gonna kill you." came a hoarse voice from behind him. Still on his hands and knees the man turned his head before flipping over his whole body, so that he was sitting on the wet floor, sill supported by his hands. His heart was beating faster than ever and he was breathing rapidly, nearly hyperventilating.

It turned out the voice had come from another young man, who had stood leaning against the wall, right beside the door as he was thrown in to the room. This man looked to be about the same age as himself and looked just as ruffled as he did, with dark clothing too big to fit him, and long blonde hair that reach all the way down to his shoulders. His face, neck and feet were just as bruised and abused as his own and his blue eyes were completely empty, lacking any emotions whatsoever.

He let his dark eyes scan the figure where he stood, hands buried in his pockets, before answering the statement that still hung heavily in the air.

"Yeah, I know." Slowly he stood up. The blonde started to walk towards him, not letting him go with his eyes.

"And then they're gonna kill me…" he said, still showing no emotions.

He swallowed. "How do you know they won't take you first?" he asked but the blonde just smile at him. An empty smile that made the brunette shivered and sweats at the same time.

"They won't." the blonde answered. He walked over to the bed and sat himself down. He removed the blanket from where it had lain and threw it to the other end of the bed and reviled and envelope that had been hidden underneath it. He then looked at the dark-haired man. "That is why I need your help"

His eyebrows furrowed and he looked at the other man confused. "How?" he asked.

The man who had been sitting down slowly stood up and walked over to him, handing him the envelope before answering.

"Over the last…at least 5 years, hundreds and hundreds of kids have gone missing from different places and I am willing to bet my soul on the fact that no one has linked all the disappearances together. With this, at least they know they have a case." Still confused the man eyed the blonde with suspicion before opening the envelope.

His eyes widened. Drawings, loads and loads of drawings of every single kid who had been in and out of this place for the last three years, maybe even more. He looked up at him.

"Did you make these?" he asked the blonde, but he just shook his head.

"That's not important; the important part is that you get these pictures out there. I don't care how you do it; just make sure someone gets them. They're gonna kill you anyway and you know it, so it doesn't really matter if you try to make a run for it and fail. Either way, you're going to die."

It felt so cold and cruel, hearing it coming from this man. Like it didn't even matter. Like his life didn't even matter.

"Listen to me," the blonde continued "You and are going to die here. We're going to die and no one is ever going to know what happened to us, but with this we could save the rest of the people stuck in here. At least then our death won't be in vain, and we did leave something of worth behind us"

"Why aren't you here?" he asked and waved the drawings in the air, dark eyes gazing the man in front of him intensely. But he just shrugged.

"I'm gonna die before anyone figure it out…Might as well act like I never was here." he mumbled.

"Still…" he answered, shoving a few curtly locks away from his eyes and tucking them behind his ear "Don't your family deserve to know what happened to you…How long have you been here anyway?"

"Five years…" he mumbled. "And you?"

"Three…" he carefully put back the drawing in the envelope before he reached out one hand. "I'm Ethan Gold"

It felt weird saying he's own name. When they were brought here they were just given numbers, and that had been their names. They had been introduced and referred to as nothing more than the numbers they had been given. Ethan was called 0216.

The blonde took his hand and shook it lightly "Justin Taylor."

The name sounded familiar, and suddenly Ethan froze. "I remember you" he said, eyes big. "I remember when you went missing. You ran off to New York and then never came back…" Justin looked like he was blushing, but the light could very well be betraying him.

"Well, what can I say, I was young and stupid." he said with a shrug, hands once again buried it the pocket of his sweatpants.

"I'm from Pittsburgh to and I remembered it because…I thought it was so unfair…A young gay boy runs away and no one even seemed to bother with it, then a few weeks later a young straight woman was kidnapped and everyone was turning the entire world upside down to find her," Ethan shook his head "It felt so wrong."

Justin looked at him for a while before shrugging "Yeah, well…That's just life" he said mumbled.

"Yeah but still…" Ethan pressed. "I'd like to think they haven't given up on me yet…" he scratched the back of his head.

"Have they given up on me?"

Ethan blinked, it was the first time he sensed some emotion in his voice…Was it disappointment? He swallowed, feeling like a complete asshole as the next words left his mouth. "Yeah…They just…assumed that you were dead and closed your case. There was even a funeral." Justin's eyebrows furrowed and he sucked in his bottom lip into his mouth, letting it go as he finally spoke.

"With no body?" he asked and Ethan nodded, eyes fixed on the ground. "How do you know all that?" he finally asked, receiving nothing but a simple shrug form the other man.

"Let's just that…I was really in to the case" he said.

"Why?" Justin asked, having a hard time understanding why anyone would be interested in his disappearance. "I was just a little kid who ran away when his parents couldn't accept that he was gay…What was so special about that?

Ethan sighed, looking thoroughly bothered. "I don't know…I, I guess I just…related. I mean, you were my age, you were from Pittsburgh…I guess it just upset me, and in a way…I wanted to see if there was something I could figure out that the police couldn't, seeing since they weren't really that into it to begin with" he shrugged again. "I guess…I just wanted to think that if it was me, someone out there would do the same…"

"And now?" Justin asked "Do you still think someone out there cares? That after all these years they still give a fuck about you?" his voice sounded so harsh, Ethan didn't know whether to make eye contact or concentrate on the cold, hard floor.

"It what's keep me going." he finally said, letting his eyes wander up and meet the blue ones that was staring at him in an almost mocking way.

"And now you're going to die," Justin said, almost looking amused. "They're gonna shove you in to that car, drive you off to the woods, throw you on the ground and then execute you, like a goddamn dog"

"I know the routine!" Ethan snapped, how the fuck could this guy be so calm if he knew that he was the next one to go? Justin took a step forward.

"Then you know you have to run," He said, eyes boring into him in a way that almost hurt. "Run your fucking legs off, and make sure someone gets it" he said pointing at the envelope. "I don't care who it is, a fucking stray, a billionaire or a kid walking his dog. You give this envelope to them and you tell them to get it to the nearest police office. Chances are that when they look at these drawing they gonna recognize at least one of these kids and hopefully, they'll get it."

Ethan had to agree. There must have been at least over a hundred drawings in there.

"Are you sure about this?" Ethan dared himself to ask. Justin shook his head.

"Nope…Not in the least, but…We have to try" Ethan nodded.

The sound of approaching footsteps, a rustle, and the sound of a key being inserted in a lock, twisted and a loud "click" made the two boys jump. Panicked Ethan stuck half of the envelope down his pants, resting against his back and the other half he covered with his shirt. A man, different from the one who had thrown him in here to begin with, swung the door opened and glared at the two boys.

"Come on 0216," he said, voice rough "Time to go."

Exchanging one last looking between each other Ethan started to move towards the doorway. This was it. They both knew that and they both were praying to god that this would work.

* * *

Nope, I have no idea...Please leave a thought!


	3. Dinner

_Thanks and sorry. Thanks you because of all the kind words and for reminding me of this story and giving me the will to keep writing it. Sorry for taking so long. School, anxiety, depression and panic attacks got in the way. All the fun things in life basically! But here it is. Hope you like. Hope you enjoy. Leave a thought._

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Five years doesn't seem like that long, but people would be surprised at how much life could change. Michael Novotny was married, with two kids. Melanie Marcus and Lindsay Peterson were also married, and at the moment discussing pros and cons of moving to Canada. Ted Schmidt was seeing Blake and Emmett had just broken up with the famous football player Drew Boyd. Debbie Novotny was still working at the diner, but was seeing a police officer, Carl Horvath. And Brian Kinney…Was still Brian Kinney. Except for one small change.

"Well what did you expect?" Lindsay asked her friend Michael who was sitting in front of her and Mel in one of the booth in the diner. "He hasn't let anyone in to the loft for years. God only what he's been up to in there"

"I'm not god, but I think I have a clue" Mel mumbled in to her cup of coffee before taking a sip. Lindsay gave her a meaningful look, but said nothing.

"I know that, but you'd think that he'd start to let up soon, I mean…He's been like this since, you know. That incident"

Ever since Justin had gone missing no one knew what to call it, even if some people said he was dead, others couldn't bring themselves to say it, with fear that they might actually believe it. And even though five years had passed, they still weren't ready to face the facts. So they didn't say "When Justin died" or even "When Justin went missing", they just called it "The Incident"

"Just give him some time" Lindsay suggested kindly "When he's ready, even if it is three more years from now, he'll tell you, and you know that"

Michael smiled before he stood up; he leaned over and gave both of the women a kiss on the cheek, before huddling down and giving JR one as well.

"I gotta run now. Mom wants me and Ben over for dinner tonight" They said their goodbyes and waved at each other.

* * *

At Debbies everything was running smoothly. Michael, Ben, Hunter and Carl was joking around and laughing while Debbie prepared the dinner, with some help from her son and her not-husband. Suddenly the door flung open and a tired, pissed, and slightly drunk Brian appeared.

"Tell me officer Horvath, what exactly is it that you and your little police friends do all day except sitting with you thumbs up your asses, stuffing your faces with donuts"

Everyone seem to haven frozen in their positions for what seem to be like a whole minute before anyone managed to recover from the pure shock that the young Kinney had caused.

"Brian!" Michael barked at his best friend at the same time as his mother screeched "What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Carl looked at him with a mix of confusion and anger.

Brian turned to Debbie and said. "I don't know, Ma. Why don't you ask mister Whorewrath over there" he said in a mocking voice. This had Ben standing up to approach the drunken man. "Okay, Brian" he said, putting on hand on his shoulder and the other one grabbing his arm lightliy. "I think it's time to go home and sleep of the alcohol" Brian spluttered protest but still allowed himself to be led across the kitchen, but before he was officially escorted from the room, Carl stood up.

"Wait!" He called. Ben and Brian stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the older man. "I want to know what you mean. Obviously you wouldn't have burst in hear screaming if it wasn't important", it was clear to the whole room that saying those words had been hard. "So tell me, Kinney; what did I miss?"

Brian pulled out of Bens hold and walked back to stand in front of Carl.

"The most obvious things of all of them", he sneered. He looked around the room and slowly forced himself to calm down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Come on", he finally said and started walking towards the hallway. Carl looked surprised.

"Where are we going?" He asked. Brian looked hesitant for a moment before announcing their destination.

"The loft"

* * *

Michael felt stupid. He shouldn't be so excited and nervous about going to Brians loft. He had been there a thousand times before. But then,_ the thing_ happened and suddenly he hadn't been allowed in there for two years. Had it changed? What had Bran even been up to? Would it look the same? He didn't know. He tried not to think too hard on it but it couldn't be helped. His mind was swirling and making up different scenarios he could be walking in on. Suddenly the car stopped. He, Brian, Debbie and Carl stepped out of the car. Ben had decided to stay at Debbie's' with Hunter. The walked in to the building, up the stairs. Michael's heart was beating hard in his chest and his palms were sweaty. He had no idea why and he felt so ridicules and almost ashamed at how he was reacting to going in to Brian's loft after two years. The door slid open slowly and Brian entered, Michael, Debbie and Carl following close behind.

Michael had no idea what to expect. But this certainly wasn't it. Every spot of the loft were covered in newspaper articles and photographs. Maps were laid out on the floor, having different locations being marked and circled. Michael nearly slipped on one of them, earning a murderous glare from Brian and a shout of "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry!" Michael mumbled, to distracted to actually care about his friend. His eyes roamed over a few photos that hung on the wall. They were all of different boys that clearly seemed to be the same age. Among them, was Justin. "Brian" Michael began slowly. "What is this?"

Brian stopped at his desk, everyone gathered around it. Ten different faces looked up at them from the desk. All boys between the ages of 18 to 23. Brian cleared his throat. "These are the faces of ten different boys that went missing this year", he started. "They were all taking from different states. There is no connection what so ever between them, except for one" Brian went across the room and got one of the maps that were sprawled out on the floor. To get more specific, he went and got the one Michael had slipped on.

He lay it out in front of them. "They were all found, right here" he pointed at one of the circled areas. Before anyone had time to say anything he continued. "Last year, these people-", he pulled up 12 new photos of 12 new boys, still the same age. "-were found in this area!" he pointed at another circled area that seemed to be about 20 miles from the last one. "And this goes on. I've got documents that dates back 10 years, of boys being taken and then found around the same area but every year move their location 20 miles. Always 20 miles."

"Jesus Christ" Debbie whispered, slowly turning pale.

"Where exactly did you get a hold of these documents?" Carl asked, look at Brian in a very dismayed manner. Brian looked glared at him.

"Really? After all I've told you,_ that's_ what you're interested in?" he snapped.

Carl sighed. "Okay, fine. But what exactly are you trying to tell me here, Kinney?"

Brian took a deep breath. "I think whoever kidnapped these boys, are the same people that took Justin" They all looked at him with a mix between horror and curiosity. Except for Carl, who sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"And you are basing this off…What exactly?" Brian stared at him.

"Basing…?" His question looked quickly changed to furious. "This!" he practically screamed, shoving the map up the police officers face. "This is what the fuck I'm basing it off, how thick can your skull get?" His face was red by now and voice hoarse from yelling.

Carl slapped the map away from his face. "Kinney, I'm sorry but this is all circumstantial! Even if all of these boys were kidnapped by the same person or people, there is nothing pointing towards the fact that Justin disappearance has anything to do with this!"

"Yes there is!" Brian moaned frustrated. "Just look! They all disappeared under mysterious circumstances. They are the same age. Hell-!" he thrusted on of the pictures in to Carls face. "-tell me that does not look like him!" Again, Carl was forced to slap Brian's hand away.

"I'm sorry. But with no body-"

"I DON'T WANT A BODY!" Brian threw the photo to the ground. "Fuck you! I do not want to find his body. I want to find _him_ but if you don't step shit up, a body is exactly what we'll get. Very soon" Carl raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?" Brian sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Because, all of these boys were found exactly three to five years after they were kidnapped. No more, no less. Exactly, to the very date" The whole room seemed to have stopped breathing. "If Justin truly belongs in this victim group then his body will be turning up next week…"

It sounded like a lot longer when he said that. Next week. But it wasn't that long. No. It was a Friday now, which meant his body, would be turning up in 4 days.

"I don't want that"

There was a weakness, a sadness that lingered in Brian's voice as he spoke those last words. For the fraction of a second he seemed to resemble an abused puppy. Carl turned and looked at Debbie. "Well?" He asked. "What do think?"

Debbies throat was dry and as she tried to speak, not a sound passed her lips, so she just shook her head. Carl didn't miss the silent tear that slowly slid down her cheek. He sighed. 'God damn it'.

"Fine" he mumbled. "I'll look into it." With that he turned around and left, he didn't even bother to look at Kinney, he already knew triumph was dancing over his smug face. Before he left he called over his shoulder. "But you owe me one!" And with that, Carl was gone.

Debbie turned to Brian, eyes red and puffy, but mouth formed in to a smile. She went to hug him and kiss his cheek. "Good job" she whispered in his ear before leaving as well. Now only Michael remained in the room. He was standing a few feet away, but slowly moving forward now. When he stood right in front of him Brian didn't look at him. He seemed almost scared to do so.

"Brian?" Michael said in a hesitant voice. This caused said brunette to force his eyes on the smaller man. The stared at each other for a long while, emotions swirling in their eyes. Then Brian put an arm around Michael's neck and pulled him closer. As he hugged him he slowly whispered in to the shorter man's ear: "I know…" There was a long silence after that. Before Brian let go he placed a kiss right on his lips.

"I missed you too, Mickey"

* * *

Btw. I feel like I need to tell you that I love all of the characters in the show, okay? So anyone reading this in the hopes of me completely demonizing any characters (Like Michael, Linday, Melanie or Ethan) I'm sorry to disappoint. Or if you were worried I was going to, then you can breathe out, because I love them all and prefer writing them IC which they wouldn't be if I demonized any of them, so… but leave a thought! Many kisses and hugs!


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